1981 Giro d'Italia

Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1981 Giro d'Italia

A total of thirteen teams were invited to participate in the 1981 Giro d'Italia. The starting riders came from a total of 11 different countries; Italy (82), Switzerland (11), Belgium (11), and Spain (10) all had 10 or more riders represented. Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 130 cyclists.

Of those starting, 45 were riding the Giro d'Italia for the first time. The average age of riders was 25.76 years, ranging from 20–year–old Moreno Argentin (Sammontana-Benotto) to 35–year–old Wladimiro Panizza (Gis Gelati-Campagnolo). The team with the youngest average rider age was Hoonved-Bottecchia (23), while the oldest was Gis Gelati-Campagnolo (27). From the riders that began this edition, 104 made it to the finish in Verona.

The teams entering the race were:

• Bianchi-Piaggio
• Cilo-Aufina
• Famcucine–Campagnolo
• Gemeaz Cusin-Zor-Helios
• Gis Gelati-Campagnolo
• Hoonved-Bottecchia
• Inoxpran
• Kotter's-G.B.C.
• Magniflex-Olmo
• Safir-Galli-Maillard
• Sammontana-Benotto
• Santini-Selle Italia
• Selle San Marco-Gabrielli

Route and stages

The route for the 1981 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani on 21 February 1981. Covering a total of 3895.6 km, it included four time trials (three individual and one for teams), and ten stages with categorized climbs that awarded mountains classification points. Two of these ten stages had summit finishes: stage 17, to Borno; and stage 20, to Tre Cime di Lavaredo. The organizers chose to include three rest days.

When compared to the previous year's race, the race was 129.4 km shorter and contained one more time trial. In addition, this race contained one more set of split stages.

It was the first time in the history of the Giro that the Giro ended in Verona. The team time trial in stage 1 was the first team time trial in the Giro d'Italia since 1956.

Classification leadership

Three different jerseys were worn during the 1981 Giro d'Italia. The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a pink jersey. The time bonuses for the 1981 Giro were thirty seconds for first, twenty seconds for second, and ten seconds for third place on the stage. This classification is the most important of the race, and its winner is considered as the winner of the Giro.

For the points classification, which awarded a purple (or cyclamen) jersey to its leader, cyclists were given points for finishing a stage in the top 15.

The green jersey was awarded to the mountains classification leader. In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists. Each climb was ranked as either first, second or third category, with more points available for higher category climbs. The Cima Coppi, the race's highest point of elevation, awarded more points than the other first category climbs. The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Tre Cime di Lavaredo. The first rider to cross the Tre Cime di Lavaredo was Swiss rider Beat Breu.

The white jersey was worn by the leader of young rider classification, a ranking decided the same way as the general classification, but considering only neo-professional cyclists (in their first three years of professional racing).

Although no jersey was awarded, there was also one classification for the teams, in which the stage finish times of the best three cyclists per team were added; the leading team was the one with the lowest total time. There was another team classification that awarded points to each team based on their riding's finishing position in every stage. The team with the highest total of points was the leader of the classification.

There was also a secondary team classification, based on points.

In 1981, the campionate delle regioni and FIAT sprints were combined into one classification, also sponsored by FIAT, for which the leader wore the light-blue jersey that was previously worn by the leader of the campionate delle regioni classification.

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

Final standings

General classification

Points classification

Mountains classification

Young rider classification

Traguardi Fiat classification

Team classification

Team points classification

Doping

There were no positive doping tests in the Giro of 1981.

Aftermath

With his Giro victory, Battaglin completed the Vuelta–Giro double, the second rider to achieve the feat (Eddy Merckx was the first in 1973). Only 48 days separated the Vuelta's start on 21 April from the Giro's end on 7 June.

References

Citations

Bibliography

References

1. (8 June 1981). "Battaglin: Despues de la <>... El <>". El Mundo Deportivo.
2. (13 May 1981). "Centotrenta al via". Editrice La Stampa.
3. "Giro d'Italia – 1981 Competitors per Country".
4. Bill and Carol McGann. "1981 Giro d'Italia". Dog Ear Publishing.
5. "Giro d'Italia – 1981 Debutants".
6. "Giro d'Italia – 1981 Peloton averages".
7. "Giro d'Italia – 1981 Youngest and Oldest competitors".
8. "Giro d'Italia – 1981 Youngest Team".
9. (13 May 1981). "La dernière chance de Franceso Moser". La Liberté.
10. (13 May 1981). "Le Tour cycliste d'Italie débute ce jour par le prologue". [[L'Impartial]].
11. Maurizio Caravella. (21 February 1981). "Giro, oggi la presentazione". Editrice La Stampa.
12. Gian Paolo Ormezzano. (22 February 1981). "Il Giro con abbuoni chiama Saronni". Editrice La Stampa.
13. Gino Sala. (22 February 1981). "Una corsa dal finale tremendo". PCI.
14. (22 February 1981). "Presentado El Giro – 81". El Mundo Deportivo S.A..
15. (22 February 1981). "Le tappe e le montagne". PCI.
16. (13 May 1981). "Un'avventura di 3873 km". Editrice La Stampa.
17. Javier. (13 May 1981). "Un <> Que <>". El Mundo Deportivo S.A..
18. Gian Paolo Ormezzano. (13 May 1981). "Trieste offre al Giro la prima maglia rosa". Editrice La Stampa.
19. Laura Weislo. (13 May 2008). "Giro d'Italia classifications demystified". Future Publishing Limited.
20. "Information about the Giro d'Italia of 1981". grandtourstatistics.nl.
21. Gian Paolo Ormezzano. (8 June 1981). "Giro: i protagonisti divisi da tre secondi". Editrice La Stampa.
22. Barry Ryan. (11 May 2020). "The Smoking Kangaroo: John Trevorrow and the 1981 Giro d'Italia". Future Publishing Limited.